The soccer federations of the United States, Canada, and Mexico are making a united bid to host the 2026 World Cup. The resulting United Bid Committee released a list of 32 finalists for host cities Wednesday.

"As we move to the next stage of the bid process, we're even more confident we have everything needed to deliver the largest, most compelling FIFA World Cup™ in history and help accelerate the growth of soccer across North America and around the world," said United Bid chairman Sunil Gulati, who is also president of U.S. Soccer. "We have more than double the number of cities required to stage matches in 2026. We have a vision for growing the game and engaging fans as never before. Our biggest challenge will be finding ways to honor the enthusiasm of all the people across Canada, Mexico and the United States through the development of our united hosting concept."

Being dropped from the list does not mean a given city is shut out of the World Cup. John Kristick, executive director of the United Bid Committee, said dropped cities may be involved further. "While not every city will move forward as a potential host city, we were so impressed by all the applicants that we will continue to engage with all the cities as part of our hosting strategy and we will welcome the opportunity to work with FIFA to further expand our hosting concept to ensure the broadest possible impact for this spectacular event."

According to the United Bid Committee, during the next stage of the bid process, the 32 potential host cities will be brought into a "united bid strategy and vision" while they finalize the hosting documents required by FIFA.

The following cities were not selected as host city candidates to be included as part of the United Bid: Birmingham, Ala.; Cleveland, Ohio; Indianapolis; Jacksonville, Fla.; New Orleans; Ottawa, Ontario; Pittsburgh; Regina, Saskatchewan; and San Antonio.

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